Bird-Window Collisions Group
Window-strikes are one of the leading causes of bird mortality in the United states, killing an estimated 300 million to 1 billion birds each year.
Who We Are
Natasha Krell founded a working group to address this problem at UCSB after witnessing a fatal bird strike on campus. With support from Coastal Fund, the group has employed a team of undergraduate interns to monitor bird-window collisions on campus and plan ways to reduce the problem.
So far the group has performed two surveys, one in Fall 2020 and one in Summer 2021. We are currently planning a third and final survey in Spring 2022, likely to take place in April. If you’re interested in volunteering with the project (which takes about an hour on one or several afternoons during the survey period) please reach out to goletacoastaudubon@gmail.com
What to do in the event of a bird-window collision
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Found an injured bird in need of help?
Maintain a safe distance from the bird and observe for signs of injury/ stress.
Sometimes birds that collide with windows don’t sustain serious injury and are able to recover on their own. A collision victim may remain stunned for a few minutes before flying off relatively unharmed.
However, sometimes the bird might need veterinary care in order to make a full recovery. If you notice visible signs of distress or injury (such as blood, stillness, panting, etc.) or the bird has remained grounded for an extended period of time, contact Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network for more information on how to rescue the collision victim.
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Have you experienced a bird-window collision?
If you, or someone you know, has ever experienced a bird-window strike on the UCSB campus we have a link you can follow to report the window strike- we could really use your help!
Qualitative data collected by the public helps us discover new problem areas on campus and can help support future research projects, which could help solve this issue moving forwards!
